Kariya and Selanne: Friends for life head into Hall Of Fame together

Before Hockey Hall Of Fame chairman Lanny McDonald could reach Paul Kariya with news of his induction, a voice mail from a very familiar Finnish number showed up on the latter’s phone.

Kariya, who had just emerged from the Pacific after a relaxing morning of surfing, laughed as he played back a frantic Teemu Selanne.

“In his loudest voice he says ‘we’re going into the Hall together’,” recounted Kariya of the big day in late June.

Inseparable on the ice and off in Anaheim and briefly as Colorado Avalanche, they certainly haven’t been far apart this weekend in Toronto as they prepare for Monday’s induction.

It was Kariya’s second season in Anaheim, when the club was fortified by the mid-season trade with Winnipeg for Selanne. Numbers 8 and 9 became feared around the league and the Ducks were no longer a funny-sounding expansion team.

“I knew from watching him in Winnipeg that we would mesh well together,” Kariya said. “Teemu obviously gets a lot of respect for his goal-scoring ability, but the thing that I noticed right away was what a great passer and playmaker he was and how unselfish.

“I think that was really key to our success. We didn’t care who scored the goals. It was whoever was in the right position got the puck. We clicked right away and it was just an incredible run for us.”

In their first full season together, Selanne had 109 points, with Kariya netting 99 while playing in nine fewer games. They were second to Mario Lemieux in scoring and two years later, both Ducks cleared 100 points as runners up to Jaromir Jagr for the Art Ross Trophy. They were among the top five again in 1999-2000.

“Teemu’s days in Winnipeg were pretty special, but him and Kariya playing together was really something to watch,” said Hockey Night In Canada broadcaster Jim Hughson. “They were one of the first teams to lob the puck out of their own zone to centre ice and those two would race to it. It was fabulous.”

From his earlier arrival, Kariya gave Anaheim fans a much-needed local hero instead of playing in Wayne Gretzky’s shadow up the highway in Los Angeles.

“I remember landing at LAX for my first training camp and seeing the palm trees and it was probably 95 degrees that day,” Kariya said.

“Coming from Vancouver or from the University of Maine, it was just quite a huge culture shock. Now when I go around Anaheim or Orange County, when the Ducks are in the playoffs, every car has got flags on it.

“It’s one of the huge hotbeds for minor hockey and for kids to go play junior hockey now. I’m just amazed at the growth of hockey in general in Southern California. Whatever small part I played in that I’m very pleased that I was a part of.”

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